Analysts are skeptical that the costs of a massive data breach are the main reason for a profit warning from retailer Target on Tuesday.

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The retail giant points to bigger than expected expenses related to hackers getting access to customers credit- and debit-cards records for its sluggish sales forecast.

Target in in the second-quarter expects to record gross breach-related expenses of $148 million, which will be partially offset by $38 million in insurance receivable, according

Last year Target’s total sales were $72 billion. The expenses for the data breach are approximately 0.2% of sales and 25% of that is covered by insurance.

“That’s like blaming the reason your household is in financial stress is because you got a parking ticket last year,” said Steve Beck, founder of cg42—a management consulting firm that specializes in brand vulnerability.

Shares for Target
/quotes/zigman/253872/delayed/quotes/nls/tgtTGT fell 3% as it revised it adjusted earnings figure down from approximately 78 cents a share to between 85 cents a share and $1 for the fiscal second-quarter. The retailer pointed to flat sales and increased promotional sales for lowering the forecast.

It’s imperative that the data breach situation at Target is an event that does not happen again and that is distracting the retail giant from focusing on what it does well, selling goods, say the experts.

There’s little surprise that tech giants Apple Inc. and Google Inc. are among the top 10 companies most often sued by patent trolls. However, when it comes to sectors, retailers grace the surprise top spot.

Skeptical investors gave discounter Family Dollar Stores Inc. some benefit of the doubt on Thursday, sending its shares back into positive territory despite a disappointing fiscal third-quarter profit and another downward revision of its full-year outlook.

Since Target Corp.’s board fired its 35-year company veteran and former Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel on May 5, the stock has lost 6% since May 2, the last trading day before the company’s announcement on May 5. Its stock is the seventh worst S&P 500 performer in the past year. The percentage of analysts bullish on the stock is at its lowest level since at least 2009, down to 26% from a peak of 85% in 2011.

Here’s a quick look at how some of those Wal-Mart loyalists, among more than 245 million each week the company said visit its 11,000 plus stores in 27 countries, have to say about shopping at Wal-Mart.

About Behind the Storefront

Behind the Storefront is a blog about all things retail. It’s aimed at investors, shoppers and anyone else with a passion for learning about what drives consumer behavior. Hosted by Andria Cheng, Behind the Storefront will cover the business, brands and shopping behavior that’s behind some of the biggest companies, and largest employers, in the world. You can reach Andria at Acheng@marketwatch.com.